Emergency Response Activation database description

Purpose:

The main purpose of the Emergency Response Activation database(ERAdb) is to provide a method to rapidly and accurately determine the proximity of first responders, ground ambulance services, air ambulance services, and search and rescue teams to an emergency scene so that the appropriate entities can be contacted and activated to respond to the emergency. 

Description:

When a medical emergency occurs there is an extensive network of professionals that can be activated as needed to render life and limb saving medical aid.

The hospital emergency room(ER) is at the heart of a medical crises.  However the sick or injured party must be able to get to the emergency room to benefit from its services.  The closest emergency room is not always the best ER to handle a given emergency. 

Ground Ambulances are typically the means of transport to an ER.  The ground ambulance with trained paramedics, emergency medical technicians(EMT), and high tech equipment are actually a mini-emergency room that can travel to the patient, render aid, and then transport to the hospital emergency room.

Air Ambulances are another means of transport.  The air ambulance can often get to places that a ground ambulance cannot.  The air ambulance can also travel faster and farther than the ground ambulance.  The air ambulance can transport a critical patient to a specialized ER outside the reach of a ground ambulance when the specialized care is needed quickly.  Air ambulances are typically staffed by a registered nurse(RN), a paramedic, and a pilot.  The air ambulance also brings a mini-emergency room directly to the patient.

First-Responders are people with at least a minimum of Red Cross First Aid training.  They can also be medical doctors (MD), RNs, paramedics, or EMTs.  The network of First-Responders is considerably larger than the number of ground ambulances, and air ambulances available.  Depending on the location of the emergency, an ambulance can often take more time than desired to arrive at the scene.  First-Responders can arrive quickly due to their saturation of an area. 

Search and rescue(SAR) teams assist in special cases.  A rock climbing injury where your typical first-responder could not safely respond, water rescue situations, and searching wilderness areas for lost people are situations where specialized teams with the necessary equipment and training can make a difference.

The emergency medical dispatcher(EMD) is tasked with the job of activating the necessary parties to assist in an emergency.  Key to their task is who to contact, based on location.

Determining location has been a time honored difficult task for the EMD.  Correctly communicating that location to the response teams has not always happened to the detriment of the patient.  Even when instructions are clear, actually finding the correct location may still be difficult.  The global positioning system(GPS) is revolutionizing the ability to quickly find a location.  Latitude and longitude scene coordinates is the key piece of data an air ambulance pilot needs to successfully carry out his/her mission.  When scene coordinates are available they can also enhance the selection process of who to activate.  Eventually all 911 systems will be latitude and longitude driven. 

This ERAdb allows the quick and easy determination of who to activate based on their proximity to the scene.  Once the EMD determines the scene coordinates a query can be made that produces a proximity list of the specific service needed, e.g. first-responder, ground ambulance, air ambulance, or SAR.  Any and all as necessary can be activated.  When the patient is ready for transport the EMD can query which hospital has the appropriate trauma rating and determine proximity so that a suitable selection can be made.

Database Concept for the emergency response activation database:

A database consisting of first responder, ground ambulance, air ambulance, search and rescue, and hospital information used to activate the most suitable facilities for responding to a medical emergency.  

The vicinity of an emergency will be linked to its near proximity geographical coordinates by its town location or its telephone area code and phone number prefix.  This information will be used to determine the nearest facilities consisting of first responders, ground and air ambulance services, search and rescue when needed, and hospitals. 

This database takes advantage of the GPS technology to use Latitude and Longitude for determining proximity and aid in the decision making process as to which response party to activate.